Over 100 Gaza families flee Syria
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 25, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- More than 100 Palestinian families have fled Syria due to the deterioration in safety and security resulting from the uprising against President Bashar Assad, an official said Tuesday. Hamza Abu Shanab of the Gaza-based Palestinian Coalition for the Syrian Revolution told Ma'an that 105 families originally from the Gaza Strip have returned safely through Egypt's Rafah crossing in recent days. The families had business ties in Syria or were students studying at Syrian universities, Abu Shanab said.

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Upgrading Palestine to non-member state in UN does not contradict with peace plan – Erekat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
July 25, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Juky 25 (KUNA) – A member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Dr. Saeb Erekat, said that approaching the General Assembly of the United Nations to seek a non-member state status for Palestine does not contradict with the peace process of the principle of two-state solution. During interviews conducted in the city of Areeha (Jericho) with the residing consuls, Eekat said that the Palestinian approach is a real focal point for the protection of two-state option.

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Ambassador: Regulations for Palestinians' entry to Egypt not changed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 24, 2012 - 12:00am

Procedures for Palestinians entering Egypt have not changed, despite earlier reports that restrictions had been eased, Cairo's ambassador to the Palestinian Authority said Monday. Yasser Othman told Ma'an that regulations for Palestinians' entry to Egypt were still applicable, although Palestinians arriving in Egypt would be granted a 48 -72 hour visa to transit the country in limited cases.

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It's the Iranian war, stupid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) July 24, 2012 - 12:00am

Shaul Mofaz is thoroughly convinced that the late night cable in the Prime Minister's Office between Benjamin Netanyahu and Tzachi Hanegbi, which was exposed the following morning, had one goal: to set the stage in the Likud party for Hanegbi's inclusion in the government, and give Netanyahu a majority, in a vote on an Iran attack.

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Mideastern poker game
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Orly Azoulay - (Editorial) July 24, 2012 - 12:00am

Barack Obama was a distinguished poker player: As a high school student in Hawaii, he would sit at street corners and defeat anyone who played against him. He did the same during his college days in California: He would walk around the dorms holding a whiskey bottle and a deck of cards, looking for players who would challenge him.

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Golan Heights provides glimpse of Syria civil war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Blake Sobczak - July 24, 2012 - 12:00am

As Syrian regime forces clash with rebels close to the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, this windswept plateau has become a front-row seat to Syria's escalating civil war.

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FM: WMD transfer to Hezbollah is 'justification for war'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - July 24, 2012 - 12:00am

The transfer of chemical weapons from Syria to Hezbollah is a clear casus belli, and Israel will act "decisively and without hesitation or restraint,"  Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Tuesday. Speaking at a press conference at the EU-Israel Association Council meeting in Brussels, Liberman said this would be "a completely different ballgame, and we hope for the understanding and cooperation of the international community."

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Abbas to delay Palestinian UN bid until after US elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Gabe Fisher - July 24, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has decided to delay a Palestinian bid for UN recognition until after US elections in the fall, Arabic daily Al Hayat reported on Tuesday. Last year, Abbas sought full UN membership for Palestine but failed to win the necessary votes in the UN Security Council. Palestine was eventually accepted as a member of UNESCO, the UN’s cultural and educational arm, in a separate process that drew harsh condemnation from Israel and the US.

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Israel Stands to Gain From Assad's Ouster
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Eli Avidar - (Opinion) July 24, 2012 - 12:00am

Ever since the demonstrations began in Syria in January 2011, the world has waited for a tie-breaking development in the struggle between the regime and the rebels.

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The myth of Palestinian neutrality in Syria
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Budour Hassan - (Analysis) July 24, 2012 - 12:00am

On July 14, thousands of Palestinian refugees marched in a funeral procession for 11 unarmed protesters shot dead by Syrian security forces in the al-Yarmouk refugee camp. Raucous and seething with rage, mourners chanted for Syria and Palestine, called for the downfall of Bashar Assad’s regime, and sang for freedom.

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